Don't take my word for it

Yet another thing that Intuitive Eating and Buddhist philosophy have in common is their deep and abiding trust and belief in each individual's judgment and experience. Any Buddhist teacher (and Intuitive Eating counselor) worth their salt have uttered "Don't take my word for it" (or something similar) many, many times.

The bottom line is this - whatever information we have to offer, whatever we have learned, whatever wisdom we have gained through our own work with our minds and bodies, it is up to you to try things out in your own life and see how they work for you.

You might think of the concepts and philosophies in Buddhism and Intuitive Eating as a sort of "top down" approach to our lives - they provide context, analogies, data from scientific studies, and more. But it is the "bottom up" experience of Buddhism and Intuitive Eating where the magic happens.

If done properly, the top down perspective can enrich and give context to the bottom up perspective. If done unskillfully, the top down perspective can act as a stand in for embodied understanding of the dharma - the truth - of existence and eating and being in our bodies. But it's not the real thing...yet.

As attractive as it may be to "get it," please allow your path - of Intuitive Eating and of recognizing the truths about life - to be as messy and imperfect as they are. Continue to look for reference points outside of you but never give them more credence than your own lived, embodied experience. But don't take my word for it :)